Among the 10 schools with the lowest acceptance rates for fall 2017, the average was around 14 percent, according to data submitted to U.S. News by 126 ranked business schools in an annual survey. That's significantly lower than the overall average of nearly 47 percent among all ranked business schools.

More than half of the schools with the lowest acceptance rates ranked among the top 10 in the 2019 U.S. News Best Business Schools. These schools include the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Harvard Business School, the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Haas School of Business at the University of California—Berkeley, Columbia Business School and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Stanford topped the list as the toughest school for receiving an acceptance offer for fall 2017. Among the more than 8,000 applicants that year, less than 6 percent were accepted. The school also boasted the highest GMAT scores among its accepted applicants, with 737 as the average test score, U.S. News data show.

Overall, four schools that rank among the top 10 Best Business Schools have acceptance rates above 20 percent. The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, tied with Harvard at No. 1 in the rankings, accepted nearly 24 percent of applicants for fall 2017. Of students admitted that same year, the University of Michigan—Ann Arbor's Ross School of Business – tied with Haas at No. 7 – accepted 25 percent; Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business – ranked at No. 10 – admitted 23 percent; and Kellogg – ranked at No. 6 – offered acceptance letters to slightly more than 20 percent.

Below are the 10 ranked business schools with the lowest acceptance rates for MBA students entering in fall 2017. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report.